Breadfruit is a large tree with milky sap, growing to 15 meters tall. Leaves are alternate, large, coriaceous, ovate to oblong, up to 50 centimeters long, deeply pinnate, and acuminate. Stipules are large and deciduous. Fruit is globose to ellipsoid, up to 12 to 20 centimeters in wide, 12 to 16 centimeters long, the rind green, yellowish-green or pale yellow. seedless, with the surface marked with polygonal faces.

• Decoction of the bark used as vulnerary (wound healing). In the Visayas, decoction of the bark used in dysentery.

• Used as emollient.

• In the Caribbean, leaves are used to relieve pain and inflammation.

• In Jamaican folk medicine, leaf decoction used for hypertension.

• Latex is massaged into skin to treat broken bones and sprains; bandaged on the spine to relieve sciatica. Used to treat skin ailments and thrush. Diluted latex used internally for diarrhea, stomach aches and dysentery. Latex and juice from crushed leaves used for ear infections. Bark used to treat headaches in several Pacific Islands. (see study)

• In the West Indies decoction of yellowing leaf is used to treat hypertension. Tea is also used to control diabetes. (see study)

Other uses

• Insect repellent:

Male inflorescences are dried and used as mosquito repellent. Latex is mixed with coconut oil for trapping houseflies in Kosrae. (see study)

• Caulk: Gum used to caulk canoes to make them watertight. and to prepare wooden surfaces for painting.

Scientific proven health benefits and uses of breadfruit

• Phytochemical:

Studyconcluded that the starch of Artocarpus altilis showed a high degree of purity. Physiochemical and rheological characteristics suggest the starch could be useful in products that require long heating process, with an excellent digestibility that might be advantageous for medical and food use.

Study yielded cytoprotective components – ß-sitosterol and six flavonoids with good potential for medicinal applications.

• Phenolic Compounds / Cytotoxicity:

Study isolated isoprenylated flavonoids – morusin, artonin E, cycloartobiloxanthone and artonol B – that showed high toxicity against Artemia salina. Result of cytotoxicity test showed the presence of an isoprenyl moiety in the C-3 position in the flavone skeleton, an important factor for its activity.

Leaf extract study exerted a weak, negative chronotropic and inotropic effect in vivo in the rat. The mechanism of action of the inotropic agent was not cholinergic and may involve decoupling of excitation and contraction.

Study evaluated an aqueous extract of leaves for possible antihypertensive mechanisms and effect on the cytochrome P450 (CYP) enzyme activities on Sprague-Dawley rats. Results showed negative chronotropic and hypotensive effects through α-adrenoreceptor and Ca+- channel antagonism. Drug adversity are unlikely if the extract if consumed with other medications reliant on CYP3A4 and CYP2D6 metabolism.

Study evaluated the effect of A. altilis leaf extracts on angiotensin-converting enzyme activity. An ethanol extract showed potent ACE-inhibitory activity, supporting its use in folk medicine for the treatment of hypertension.

Study evaluated the acute toxicity of A. altilis leaf and bark extracts, administering various doses of extracts up to 2000 mg/kbw for 14 days. No mortality or toxic reactions were seen, with no histopathological changes. Results suggest the safety of the extracts in therapeutic uses.